TV Tuners -- a few questions

[awmut]

I'm looking for a TV Tuner card to record random shows, mostly only when I will not be here. There may be a few times I want to record a show and be on the computer at the same time.

I've read here that Hauppauge is a good brand. What model would you recommend?

I will have 1 coaxial cable feeding into the TV Tuner card. I hear hardware encoding is best, as it uses less resources.

Also, what do you recommend for software. I don't want to go "all out" with the windows media center, and I don't think I'll even need a remote.

 

[HDTVMan]

Hauppauge 150 or 250 series.

It onchip encoding. Which will do almost all the work on the card itself as compared to those who use the CPU to compress the video.

 

[awmut]

Will this one work out:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815116620

I was told it will work even though I don't have a MCE.

 

[scrawnypaleguy]

Originally posted by: awmut
Will this one work out:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815116620

I was told it will work even though I don't have a MCE.

That's the one I have. Works like a charm with beyond tv 3.